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Chicago Action team: Off to a grand slam start! Volunteer Projects and More from a Brand-New Action Team The Chicago Action Team is just a few months old, but this city’s new Action Team Captains don’t believe in taking it slow. Working with Major League players Ryan Dempster, Derrek Lee, and Ryan Theriot of the Chicago Cubs, the Chicago Action Team has an impressive lineup of projects planned for the year ahead. Four Chicago-area high schools have joined the Action Team for 2008-09: North Lawndale College Prep, Noble Street College Prep, Regina Dominican School, and Jones College Prep. There are a total of 12 Action Team Captains, three from each school, leading the volunteer activities.
Teen Captains and Major Leaguers Plan a Big Sweep Erica Foreman, community relations coordinator for Volunteers of America (VOA) in Chicago, is the Action Team program organizer. The schools are from different neighborhoods, she notes, which gives the Action Team Captains the chance to get to know each other and different needs around the city. “Students can see the challenges that others’ face and use their own unique talents and gifts to help,” says Foreman. “Everyone can be a leader through service.” The Cubs Action Team players welcomed the Action Team Captains at the group’s first training session at Wrigley Field. “There’s a lot we can do as athletes, and we believe in the importance of giving back,” said Dempster, a Cubs pitcher. “Just to see the smiles on people’s faces when you help is worth it. We’re setting goals with the students for community projects. I say, why do it small when we can do something big!” The lollapalooza project that will bring the entire Chicago Action Team together is “Sweep 16th.” This spring cleanup of a notoriously dirty street – 16th Street, which stretches for nearly a mile on the city’s West Side – will see teens and Major Leaguers working side by side. “Our mayor is emphasizing city cleanups as Chicago competes for the 2016 Olympics,” says Foreman. “We expect ‘Sweep 16th’ to be a big event.” In the Volunteer Spirit Each set of Action Team Captains is spearheading school-based or neighborhood service initiatives. Already there are nine service projects planned, with both North Lawndale College Prep and Jones College Prep organizing October volunteer activities. At North Lawndale, the trio of Action Team Captains are all members of athletic teams – soccer, volleyball, and baseball. The captains are recruiting fellow athletes for a “Sports and Scholastic” event with the school’s affiliate charter elementary school. The teens will mentor elementary students on specific sports, and then distribute children’s books (donated to VOA for kids in need) to boost the younger students’ reading skills, too. Jones College Prep is getting into the volunteer spirit with a Halloween-themed project to help sick children. The Action Team Captains and other teen volunteers will dress in costumes to deliver treats such as Halloween children’s books and other holiday favors to pediatric patients. Action Team Makes a Difference Other Action Team projects planned during the year include more literacy events for elementary children and hospital visits to cheer sick kids; a food drive to benefit Cornerstone Community Outreach, the city’s only family shelter; and a drive to gather hygiene and food supplies for Franciscan House, a neighborhood shelter. Chicago Action Team Captains will also volunteer at an annual skating party for foster children sponsored by Volunteers of America of Illinois and host a St. Patrick’s Day Bingo party for elderly residents of a VOA senior housing facility. The Bingo party is the inspiration of Debbie Gonzalez, a senior at Jones College Prep. [Check out Teens In Action to meet her as Action Team Captain of the month.] “I know a lot of older people are lonely,” she says. “Volunteering is more than just spending your time helping others. Volunteering is making a difference in someone’s life.”
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